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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/AmericanFlag.jpg GM begins Preproduction of the Volt. (cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=218518)

http://www.youtube.com/v/3t2a0hu20Ww&hl=en&fs=1Wayne Gerdes - CleanMPG (cleanmpg.com) - June 27, 2009

2010 Chevrolet Volt update...

Originally unveiled as a "concept" car at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, the first pre-production Volts have rolled off the line.

Most of these vehicles will be used for the testing and validation of production and design. They will also be used to develop the final software and controls, including the way that the driver interacts with the vehicle. Some will have short lives, as they'll be crash tested after running other tests like endurance, battery drivetrain interface and windshield wiper and door function.

“And this is the Volt. Its got the interior, its got the exterior, its got the drive quality,” said Andrew Farah, Chevrolet Volt Vehicle Chief Engineer. “This is what we will be using for the next number of months to finish the job.”

Approximately 80 of the extended-range electric vehicles will be produced over the next year, putting General Motors ahead of pre-production deadlines. The automaker hopes to start producing Volts for retail sale in by the end of Fall 2010.

The Volt has to be a home run. A grand slam driving in the loaded base's or GM is destine to be British Leyland look a like.

GM has hit home runs with the new Vette and CTS-V in there class's and the G8 and Camaro are great cars from the Holden stable. But timing and economics are against them not to mention most of the membership at cleanmpg.com.

It has to be the new Belair or Impala or GM is sunk. It has to be one hell of a ride and do everything they claim and more. The car has to be priced right, manufactured right, backed right and swallow market share or GM is done for.

They had better of done the homework. This car has to be the flag ship of GM's new world order.

It would help alot if they gave me one to make up in part for all the junk of there's I've busted knuckles on. :)

Hi Jeff:

___This is one GM vehicle I can endorse here in the US (the only one actually) and even from their overseas lot.

___God I hope they and the Volt are ready by late 2010 because as you mentioned, this is their last and only hope for catching both the Green crowd and public’s imagination.

___I was speaking with one of GM's marketing folks at the Midwest Automobile Media Association Luncheon the other day and she knows what is at stake as does the rest of the company... What is left of it that is.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne forget the green groupies. And all the other special interest. This car has to be the new 4 person family car. This car has to be the Impala of it's time. It HAS to be the bench mark / stock and trade. It has to show case GM's engineering skills, production skills, and over all ablity to make folks look and want a GM product. It has to impress folks that don't care. It has to be affordable and have the ablility to dig a trench GM once had engraved in the minds of a lot Americans,,, muchless the world.

This is the most important car GM has ever produced. If they blow this,,, there done for.

Remember Wayne,,, GM was years ahead of the rest of the world when it came to hybrids with the work in locomotives and marine power plants. Over all the only thing missing was the battery. Fact is that engineering example is the fall back for the Volt when the battery is dead. GM's failure with EV1 was they went total electric instead of hybrid,,,, which they had in there back pocket even with the limited battery tech of the time. They messed up there swan song at biblical levels. And the fact is I don't know if the over all expenditure of battery tech will ever pay off.

Hi Jeff:

___I do not see the Volt as Joe Sixpack's car and thus my inclination to believe it has to be accepted to the Green Car crowd first and foremost. The early adopters will be former Prius, Civic Hybrid and Insight owners looking for the greenest OEM available but rumors of $40,000 price tags are scaring the hell out of everyone right now.

___Having driven the best OEM BEV in the world (imho), the Mitsubishi MiEV, I suspect that Volt will trounce it in every comparison available. With initial specs of size, range, performance, features and being a US OEM, this thing could really be something to not only blast our attachment to foreign oil to never never land but for a nice GM comeback... If the Volt can take root, the next US based platform in line is the Cadillac Converj and it will be purchased in droves thanks to the CTS-V exterior styling, top notch interior and luxury appointments equivalent to BMW, MB, Lexus and Acura and ability to be setup for basically any 0 to 60 time GM would like with the proper C-Rated Li-Ion. And it will still remain green as grass in the spring given no local emissions for most local drives and very few when let loose on the open road with whatever DI engine they decide to put into it in the future.

___I hope GM can not only produce a great Volt with far fewer defects per 100 vehicles than anyone in the industry (they should given more than half the parts disappear) but make it affordable enough that it can actually be driven by Joe and Jane Q. Public all the while saving Billions of barrels of oil a year.

___My hope is they will succeed and if there was a vehicle that deserved a huge tax credit, the Volt or upcoming Eurocentric Focus and Transit Connect BEVs would be those vehicles.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

The beef I have with GM over the Volt is that it is just standing itself... If you're going to go electric, then you have to go all the way and have an all new EV lineup. The Volt, at minimum is going to be $30,000 putting it out of reach of a lot of people. Now, unless they do a lot of good marketing with the "prius celebrity" crowd and get people who can afford the car to buy it over everything else, then yeah they'll have a hit. But that isn't going to happen. The majority of people out there are always going to focus on the negatives of EVs rather on the positive until some sort of big change in the mindset happens.

Maybe GM should make an an EV for Nascar...? And yeah I'd LOVE to see that!

Back to the point, they need smaller compact cars that are EV's so people can buy them for cheap, then say to their friends, "HAY! I got a new electric car! It's amazing!" once that happens, then the world will change to Electrification of vehicles. Its a big big big hurdle that GM is trying to tackle, but they have to take many paths to tackle that hurdle, not just one with the Volt. Its common business sense... but then again.. this is General Motors that we're talking about here.